When the U.S. State Department cables released by WikiLeaks showed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had directed her embassies to spy on top United Nations officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, it was an embarrassing moment for both the State Department and the UN. U.S. Ambassador the UN Susan Rice must have been made especially uncomfortable. So what better way for Rice and Ban to clear the air than by addressing the story head-on?
But these two high-profile diplomats may have gotten a little carried away. Rather than simply issuing a joint statement reaffirming positive U.S.-UN relations, Rice and Ban chose to dispel tension by performing skits about WikiLeaks, as the AFP reports. At a UN Correspondents' Association dinner on Wednesday, Ban mocked the incident by showing a PowerPoint presentation (because what could be funnier than PowerPoint) of personal information not contained in the WikiLeaks cables. One of the slides read "boxers not briefs." The AFP report does not indicate if anyone laughed.Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at mfisher at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
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